All things Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tonys

Thursday Roundup: 'Food, Inc.' on 'Oprah'; 'The S From Hell' and 'Tucker and Dale' at Sundance

January 28, 2010 | 5:59
pm

Director Robert Kenner's documentary "Food, Inc.," which remains on the Oscar shortlist for feature documentary, got a massive promotional boost Wednesday when it was the main topic on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Co-producer Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation") and author Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma"), who also appears in the film, were guests on the program, which concluded with Oprah announcing that "Food, Inc." would be available for purchase or download at Amazon.com for $9.99. Here's a recap of what you missed on the O Show, including some talking-head business from vegan celeb Alicia Silverstone:

And in other audio-visual news: "The S From Hell" is a truly offbeat and hilarious documentary (of sorts) about the havoc wreaked on '60s generation TV viewers who were terrified by the Screen Gems Productions logo, which appeared at the end of countless television series. The doc, which unfolds as a sort of alarmist educational film crossed with a late-night horror flick, is the brainchild of experimental filmmaker Rodney Ascher, who's created shorts for the San Francisco and Chicago Underground Film Festivals, among others, and it's screening through Jan. 30 at Sundance. Here's the trailer:

"The S From Hell" is playing at Sundance with Eli Craig's splatschtick chiller "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil," a broad parody of slasher movie tropes starring two of the better (no, let's say it, best) scene-stealers in the business today — Tyler Labine (from the late, lamented "Reaper") and Alan Tudyk ("Rent," "Firefly") — as the title characters, a pair of slow-witted backwoods types whose attempts to befriend a cabin full of teen cliches goes horribly awry with every encounter. I'll let you know up front that this one is a little gross, but it's more "Evil Dead 2" than "Hostel."